BREAKING | Makebi Zulu Emerges as NCP Presidential Candidate as Opposition Fault Lines Deepen
New Congress Party has unveiled Makebi Zulu as its presidential candidate for the forthcoming general elections, a move that intensifies opposition realignments less than 24 hours after fresh fractures within the Patriotic Front (PF) and the wider Tonse ecosystem.
NCP President Peter Chanda announced the decision, confirming he has withdrawn his own presidential ambition with immediate effect to allow the party to consolidate behind Zulu.
The endorsement signals a decisive shift by the NCP to project a
single standard-bearer amid accelerating opposition volatility.
The timing is consequential. Zulu’s elevation lands as PF factions jostle for legitimacy, Tonse Alliance splinters harden, and senior figures reposition ahead of a compressed electoral calendar.
Within PF, the announcement adds pressure to an already strained structure grappling with court injunctions, contested authority, and competing centres of gravity.
For the opposition landscape, the move sharpens the contrast between fragmentation and consolidation.
For PF in particular, it underscores a widening centrifugal pull as allies peel off, recalibrate, or formalise alternative vehicles, raising immediate questions about coordination, vote-splitting, and command heading into the campaign season.
© The People’s Brief | Mwape Nthegwa
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